Fire-alarm-bell ringer.



W. S. SCHUYLER.

FIRE ALARM BELL RINGER. APPLICATION FILED IULY 7, I916 LQGQAM.PatentedMar. 2 1918.

' 2 SHEETS-SHEET 1- FIG, 1, 51

INVENTOR: 44 S. SCHUIZEF,

M MM ATTORNEYS.

W. S. SCHUYLER.

7 FIRE ALARM BELL RINGER.

APPLICATION FILED JULY 1. 1915..

1 ,QGUAG 1 Patented Mar. 26, 19 18.

FIG. 6.

f ATTORZVE ZS.

UNTTE WILTON SCHUYLER, OF SAVANNAH, MISSOURI.

FIRE ALARM-BELL RINGER.

Specification of Letters Iatent.

Patented Mar. 26, 1918.

Application filed July 7, 1916. Serial No. 108,038.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, VVnJror: S. SonUYLnn,

a citizen of the United States, and a resident of the city. of Savannah,in the. county of Andrew and State of Missouri, have invented a certainnew and useful. Improvement in Fire-Alarm-Bell.Ringers; and I do herebydeclare that the following description of my said invention, taken inconnection with the accompanying sheets of draw ings,forms a full,clear, and: exact specification, which will enable others skilled in theart to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates generally to improvements in a fire alarmbellringerand it consists, essentially, in the novel and peculiarcombination of parts and details of construction, as hereinafter firstfully. set forth and described and then pointedout in the claims.

The object of this invention is the production of an efiicient andserviceable mechanically operated mechanism for. ringing fire alarms inthe smaller cities. andother places where a fire alarm bell isin use andwhich is generally manually operated. My invention includes mechanismwhereby the striking of the bell is accomplishedby mechanical means andwhereby the bell may be struck by continuous blows, or at longer andshorter intervals of time as the case may be, so that stations,sections, wards orparticular places from which a fire alarm is sent in,may be indicatedbya stroke or a succession of strokes, followed byaninterval of silence and further strokes, in the manner generallyemployed for sounding a fire alarm.

In the drawings already referred to which disclose the preferredembodiment. of my invention and which illustrates the. same quite fully,Figure 1 is an velevation'of the striking mechanism in normal position.Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the positions of the parts at themoment when the bell striking mechanism is being engaged for operation.Fig. 3 is a sectional view of the mechanism employed for operatingthebell strikingmechanism. l is an enlarged view, in section, on line H ofFig, Fig. 5 is an enlarged view of mechanism employed for automaticallysilencing the bell striking mechanism, during part ofthe operation. Fig.6 is a diagrammatic plan illustrating the disposition of the bellstriking mechanism. Fig.7 is a side elevation of the bellstrikingmechanism showingilthe parts of this mechanism at the moment when thebell striking hammer is being released, the solenoid shown in Figs. 1, 2and 5 being omitted.

Referring to Fig. 6, A, indicates a fire alarm bell suspended from theusual head or yoke B having trunnions, 12, on which the bell may beswung. C indicates a series of bell-striking hammers arranged angularlyto each other, and D designates the bellstriking mechanism as anentirety.

In practice I locate, preferably, two of these bell striking mechanism,as shown in Fig. 6, whereby the bell A may be swung in the usual mannerwithout touching the hammers or interfering with. the bell strikingmechanism in any manner.

These bell striking mechanisms are alike in construction so thatdescribing the same in a singular number will be sufficient for a clearunderstanding of this invention. Each bell striking mechanism comprisesa stand.- ard E located upon a suitable support E. The upper extremityof this standard, which is preferably cross-shaped in transversesection, is bifurcated at'13; and in this fork there is pivoted, on abolt ll, the handle or shank 15 ofthe hammer C. This shank 15') has anextension 16, which is bifurcated or slotted as shown at 17, Fig. 6, inwhich slot there is movably arranged a push-and-pull rod 18, of peculiarconstruction. This rod 18 is pivotally connected to the standard E by alink G, having a fork 1.9 at one end engagingisaid pull-rod 18 by apivot bolt 20, and a further fork 21, at the opposing end engaging theweb 22, by a pivotal bolt The fork 19 on the link G is engaged by aconnecting member to which a so-called double eye 25 is pivoted, whichdouble'eye receives operating rod 26, hereinafter to be referred to. i

The pull rod 18 has, approximately medially, a sidewise projecting hook27 and its upper extremity is curvedat 28 and it has further curvedterminal 29, as will be further on referred to.

Near the pivotal point 1% of the hammer shank there is pivotallyconnected, by a bolt 30, a bar 31, the extremity of which is fitted witha. roller 82, which roller contacts with the curved portion 28 of thepull rod 18; and this bar 31 is movably connected to the shank portion15*, of the hammer handle by a rod 33, having locking nuts 3-il..

. To the pivotal bolt 23'that connects the linkG to the standard E, andat both sides of the forked end 21 of said link, there are pivoted angleirons 35, Fig. 7, and at a suitable distance above the pivot bolt thereare further angle irons 36, pivotally connected to the pull rod 18, oneon each side thereof, are spiral springs 37 connecting the respectiveangle irons. There are preferably two of these springs so that shouldone of these springs break, there will still be one left to perform thefunction of pulling the pull rod 18 toward the standard E.

At a proper distance from the pivot 14!: of the hammer handle, there aresuspended angle irons 38, one on each side of the shank 15, and to theseangle irons are secured coil springs 39, the lower ends of which arehitched to the base plate 40 of the standard E.

Near the upper end of the standard E there is a sidewise extendingbracket 41, to

whiclrbracket there is secured a clamp 42,

by which a substantial blade spring i3 1s secured to said bracket. Theobject of this latter spring is to support the hammer C and keep itnormally away from the rim of the bell B and also to prevent the hammerfrom repeating a stroke when once delivered by the rebounding thereof,while the objectof the two springs 39 is to reinforce the stroke of thehammer by imparting increased velocity thereto when descending todeliver a blow.

The hammer may be operated manually by lifting and pulling the rod 26which actuates the pulling lever 18, but whendesired, power-operatedmechanism may be installed to manipulate this red 18, and in thepreferred embodimentof my invention, 1 provide an electric or othermotor H, Figs. 3 and 4f, the shaft 44: of which carries, preferably, aworm 45 engaging a worm wheel 46 mounted in a suitable gear case 49,said worm wheel rotating loosely on a shaft 47. This shaft has at eachof its extremities a crank L8: and in the gear case 49 adjacent the wormwheel and secured to shaft 17,

there is a fixed ratchet wheel 50, Fig. 4, which is engaged by a pawl 51pivotally connected to said worm wheel, whereby the rotation of thecrank shaft 4C7 is effected by the ratchet wheel 50 acting on the pawl51,

'the rotation being in one direction only.

One of the cranks 4-8 connects to one, and the other crank to the otherof the two bell striking devices, and these cranks are opposing eachother so that the strokes are given at equal intervals, as will bereadily comprehended. g

In operation, when the pull rod 18 is lifted the upper end thereof willslide upwardly in the slot 17 at the end of the hammer handle 16, untilthe barb or hook 27 thereon has passed a bolt or pin 52, in the slottedaperture 17, when, by the contraction of the springs 37 acting upon thepull rod.

18, the upper end of the pull rod is drawn toward and caused to engagethis pin 52.

Now, when-the rod'26 is pulled down, the hammer Cis lifted untilthe'roller 32 on the bar31 engages the curved portion 28 and pushes theupper end of the pull rod 18 from the pin 52, thereby liberating thehammer C and causing it to drop, assisted by the springs 39, and tostrike the bell B with a forcibleand quick blow. This operation isrepeatedas long as the motor H is operating; but in order to cause acessation of blows at predetermined intervals, as

will hereinafter appear, I providemeans for preventing the barb or hook27 from engaging the pin 52, and I prefer for this purpose the solenoiddevice I have shown in detail in Fig. 5. Thus on the pull rod 18, belowthe hook 27, I provide a solenoid 53 of usual design, the core or bar54: of which has a rod-extension 55, to which is secured a core 54: willbe moved down together with f the box shaped member 56, as illustratedin Fig. 1, but as soon as the solenoid is electrically excited, the corewill immediately rise and thus. cause the member 56 to close the gap 57.In order to render the solenoid very effective, I counterbalance, inpart, the welght of the bar 54 and ltssuperimposed parts, by aweight 58,connected to the bar by a very fine chain 59, passingover a guide sheave0r pulley 60. And in order to cause intermittent operation of thissolenoid mechanism, I ntroduce a push button or switch 61, Fig. 2, intothe conductor or lead 63, from the battery to the magnet, which switchmay be operated manually, or by mechanical means, not shown. In theconductor 6%, to the electric motor H, I also interpose a switch 62which may be operated V manually or mechanically as desired.

Attention is now directed to the means whereby the verticallyreciprocating rod 18 is caused to disengage its hook from the hammerhandle toward the end of the clownward movement of said push-andapullrod 18, which disengagement is effected by the pivotal bar 31; This barhas the screw threaded adjusting rod 33 pivoted to the hammer handleportion 15*, and it is provided with adjusting nuts 34-, whereby said'bar 31 may be moved toward and from the hammer handle 15. .When movedtoward the latter member the disengagementwill be effected sooner thanwhen'the bar is moved farther away therefrom. It will benoticed thatthis bar 31 moves with the hammer handle, and that when the mechanism isin normal position shown in Fig. 1, the free and its hook 27 has engagedthe pin 52,

and the reciprocating rod ,18 then commences its downward movementtogether with the hammer handle 15 the roller 32 approaches the curvedportion 28 and contacting therewith, will, while (la-ascending, push theupper end of the rod 18 away from the pin 52 and thus free the hammerhandle and to cause the hammer to drop and strike the bell. By thusmaking the bar 31 adjustable, I am enabled to vary the lift of thehammer and thereby increase or diminish the force of the blow of thehamn'ier accordingly.

It will be further noticed that the upward movement of the hammercommences with the downward movement of the pushand-pull rod, but thatthe liberation of the hammer depends upon the position of the bar 31,and not upon the extent or range of the downward 'movement of saidreciprocating rod 18, which in all cases remains constant, and isgoverned by the throw of the cranks 48 on the hammer operatingmechanism.

In smaller towns and villages where a fire alarm is given by acontinuous ringing of the lire bell without intermissions, I dispensewith the mechanism including;- the solenoid or magnet, and thegap-closing means, which will cheapen the cost of installation. to someextent, and will answer all practical purposes under prevailingconditions. And in this connection I desire to state that while I haveheretofore mentioned the stroke of the hammer in the singular number,and while they are, in fact, single strokes, these strokes follow oneanother in such rapid succession, each hammer giving lly from one to twoblows per second, the alarm given is actually in the nature of a tollingof an alarm, which is sutliciently loud to wake up the sleeping peopleof a town during the night. 7

Assuming that there are a number of stations in a town from which a firealarm may be turned in, and assuming that an alarm is turned in from,say, Station No. 3, an alarm would be given for, say three seconds, aninterval of silence of. sav. three seconds, following this a furtheralarm of three seconds followed by a silence of three seconds. anotheralarm of three seconds, and then a silence of a much longer duration.after which the performance is repeated (/(Z filers/in. thus indicatingby the three succes sire alarms that the fire alarm came from StationNo. 3.

I have heretofore described this invention and my preferred embodimentthereof, with considerable minuteness, but I desire it to be understoodthat many of the details of construction may be changed by personsskilled in the art to which my said invention appertains withoutdeparting from the scope thereof, as defined in the subjoined claims.

Having thus fully described this invention I claim as new and desire tosecure to myself the following I 1. In an apparatus of the naturedescribed, a bell, mechanism for striking said bell, including a hammer.said hammer being located, and constructed to strike the hell on theexterior thereof, means for continuously operating said strikingmechanism, means constructed to prevent the said striking mechanism fromstriking said bell, means for supporting said hammer normally free fromsaid bell, and means connected to said hammer for varying the distancethrough which said hammer is lifted.

In an apparatus of the nature described, the combination, of a bell, ahammer, said hammer being located, and con structed to strike the bellon the exterior thereof, electrically operated mechanism for actuatingsaid hammer, electrically operated mechanism constructed to prevent saidhammer from. striking said bell while the mech anism for actuating saidhammer is operating, said means for preventing the bell from beingstruck being attached to said bell striking mechanism, and meansconnected to said hammer for varying the distance through which saidhammer is lifted.

3. In a device of the type descr'bed, a bell, a standard, a hammerpivotally connected to said standard, a push-and-pull rod, means on saidpush-and-pull rod constructed to engage said hammer in its upwardmovement, and means constructed to disengage said push-and-pull rod fromsaid hammer toward the termination of the downward movement of saidpush-and-pull rod.

4. In a device of the type described, a bell, a standard, a hammer having a handle pivotally connected to said standard, a push and-pull rod,a link connecting said pushand-pull rod to said standard. a hook on saidpush-and-pull rod, a pin on said hammer handle. a spring connected tosaid pushand-pull rod constructed to draw said latter rod. toward saidpin to cause said hook to engage said pin at the upstroke of said rodand means constructed to disengage said hook from said pin near thetermination of the downward stroke of said push-and-pull rod. 7

5. In device of the type described, the combination of a bell, a hammerhaving a handle, a standard to which said handle is pivoted, anextension on said hammer handle. said extension being; slotted, avertically reciprocating rod, the upper terminal being constructed toslide in said slot, said necting said rod to said standard, a springconstructed to pull said rod toward sa1d standard, means in theaforesaid slot wherewith said hook is constructed to engage said hammerhandle, and means connected to said hammer handle constructed todisconnect said hook from said hammer handle during the downwardmovement of said reciprocating rod.

6. In a device 01 the type described, the combination of a bell, ahammer having a handle, a standard to which said handle is pivoted, anextension on said hammer handle, said extension being slotted, avertically reciprocating rod, the upper terminal being constructed toslide in said slot, said rod being provided with a hook, a linkconnecting said rod to said standard, a spring constructed to pull saidrod toward said standard, means in the aforesaid slot wherewith saidhook is constructed to engage said ham- .mer handle, means connected tosaid hammer handle constructed to disconnect said hook from said hammerhandle during the downward moi'ement oi said reciprocating .rod andmeans constructed to prevent said hook from en 'a ino said hammer handle.while said rod is operating.

7. In a device of the type described, the combination of a bell, ahammer having a handle, a standard to which said handle is pivoted, anextension on said hammer handle. said extension being slotted, avertically reciprocating rod, the upper terminal being constructed toslide in said slot, said rod being provided with a hook, a linkconnecting sa1d rod to said standard, a spring constructed to pull saidrod toward said standard, means in the aforesaid slot wherewith saidhook is constructed to engage said hammer handle, means connected tosaid hammeI' handle constructed to disconnect said hook from said hammerhandle during the downward movement of said reciprocating rod and meansconstructed to prevent said hook from engaging said hammer handle whilesaid rod is operating, said means including electrically operateddevices.

8. In a device of the type described, the combination of a bell, ahammer having a handle, a standard to which said handle is pivoted, anextension on said hammer handle, said extension being slotted, a vertically reciprocating rod. the upper terminal being constructed to slidein said slot, said .rod being provided with a hook, a link connectingsa1d rod to sa1d standard, a spring constructed to pull said rod towardsaid standard, means in the aforesaid slot wherewith sa1d hook isconstructed to engage sa1d Copies of this patent may be obtained forincluding electrically operated devices, and

said means including a solenoid, said solenoid being connected to asource of electric energy.

9. In adeviceof the type described, the combination of a bell, a pairofhammers located at the side of said bell, said hammers being constructedto strike said bell on the outer surface thereof, mechanisms forpivotally retaining said hammers, said mechanisms being angularlydisposed with respect to each other, and power-operative meansconstructed to actuate said hammers, said power operating meansincluding a single motor located between, and operatively connected to,the two bell-striking mechanisms, said bell-striking mechanisms beingconstructed to strike said bell alternately.

10. In a device of the type described, the. combination of a bell, apair of hammers located at the side of said bell, mechanisms forpivotally retaining said hammers, said mechanisms being angularlydisposed with respect to each other, and power-operative meansconstructed to actuate said hammers, said power operative means beinglocated between said mechanisms for pivotally retaining said hammers,there being means on said power operated means constructed; to preventsaid hammers from striking while the power-operated means are operatingsaid hammers being constructed to strike. said bell alternately.

11. In a device of the. type described, the combination of a bell, apair of hammers located atthe side of said bell, mechanisms forpivotally retaining said hammers, said mechanisms being angularlydisposed with respect to each other, and power-operative meansconstructed to actuate said hammers, there being electrically actuatedmeans on' said power operative means constructed to prevent said hammersfrom striking while the power-operative means are operating, saidhammers being constructed to strike said bell alternately, said poweroperative means including reciprocating rods, said electrically actuatedmeans beinglocated on said rods.

In testimonythat I claim the foregoing as my invention, *1 have hereuntoset my hand.

WILTON S. SCHUYLER.

five cents each, by addressing the flommissioner of Patents.

Washington, I). C. r

